Palace Glad All Over!

It’s a song that has followed Crystal Palace Football Club and its fans for almost 50 years – and now the original ‘Glad All Over’ gold disc has found a new home at Selhurst Park.

The seven-inch disc was presented to The Dave Clark Five band member Denis Payton to mark the fact that the record had sold 1million copies worldwide.

Saxophonist Payton passed away in December 2006 and the gold disc was put up for auction yesterday – with the football club putting in the winning bid of £580 to bring the item home to SE25.

‘Glad All Over’ has been sung on the terraces of Selhurst Park ever since The Dave Clark Five performed the song live at the stadium in February 1968.

It was originally released in November 1963 and topped the British charts in January the following year, having spent the previous three weeks at number two behind The Beatles’ ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’.

The hit proved to be the band’s only UK number one, although they had a total of 15 records in the top 30.

A cover version was later released by the Palace squad that reached the FA Cup Final back in 1990, such is the club’s affiliation with the song.

A re-issued ‘Glad All Over’ was released by EMI three years later and returned The Dave Clark Five to the British singles charts for the first time since 1970.

But the song has remained ever-popular among Eagles fans through the decades and when the gold disc became available at auction, the club were determined to acquire the historic item.

Crystal Palace Chief Executive, Phil Alexander, said: “This song has become synonymous with the football club over the years and we are absolutely delighted to be able to bring this piece of memorabilia here to Selhurst Park.”